Brawling in Turkish parliament puts EU refugee deal in peril

Ankara parliament suspension halts passage of laws needed to win
European support for visa-free travel for Turks

Jon Henley European affairs correspondent
Thursday 28 April 2016 15.09 BST

A key deadline looks increasingly likely to be missed in plans to grant Turkish citizens visa-free travel in the EU as part of a vital migration deal, after fighting in the parliament in Ankara and a stern warning of no special favours from Brussels.

Brawling between ruling party and pro-Kurdish MPs late on Wednesday resulted in Turkey’s parliament being suspended until Monday, halting work on laws the country needs to pass if the European commission is to recommend the controversial visa-waiver scheme to member states in a decision due next Wednesday.

The deputy head of the commission, Frans Timmermans, reiterated on Thursday that the EU executive would not soften the 72 conditions Turkey must meet to ensure visa-free travel, a key part of the controversial agreement aiming to stem the flow of migrants into the union.

“We will not play around with those benchmarks; the onus is on Turkey. They say they can do it,” Timmermans told the European parliament, adding that recent curbs on media freedoms and human rights in Turkey did not necessarily bode well for fresh discussions on Turkey’s eventual membership of the EU – another component of the migrant deal.

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